male was forty- eight days, with a maximum of ninety- one. The food 

 of the adult beetle consists of practically any vegetable matter, with 

 a preference for softer substances such as the pods of Tepkrosia, 

 Crolalaria, Leucaena glaiica, Cassia and other Leguminosae, coffee 

 beans, cacao beans, etc. The beetles seem capable of flying con- 

 siderable distances, flights of about 1,()<)() yards being believed to occur. 

 Light exercises a great attraction. When disturbed the beetles drop 

 and feign death, so that under natural conditions it is difficult to 

 collect them in large numbers. 



The injury to T. Candida is sometimes very serious ; in one case only 

 25 per cent, of the seeds escaped damage, and in another, only 5 per 

 cent. Up to the present only plants with Papilionaceous flowers 

 have been attackeil. Cro/'ihirln striata- is believed to be the original 

 host-plant, though T. Candida is the principal one, other food-plants 

 being Glycine soja and Indiffofera sp. Cassia occidentalis cannot be 

 regarded as a true food-plant, as full development appears seldom to 

 take place in it. The seeds of T. vogeli remain immune from attack 

 even if this plant is grown amonij seriously infested T. Candida. The 

 pods, however, are pierced with holes for oviposition, so that develop- 

 ment appears to be hindered within them ; only in a few instances 

 were small larvae found and these had not done more than gnaw 

 the surface of the seeds, probably because the latter ripen and harden 

 rapidly. In the open Leuc^wna tjhiuca does not appear to suffer, and 

 while beetles in captivity oviposit in the almost ripe pods of this plant, 

 the resultant larvae do not develop. Pfiaseolns radiatus, Sesbania 

 aegyptiaca and Vigna caijang do not appear to be attacked. 



An investigation was made of the vegetable substances (other than 

 the living plants mentioned above) in which development seemed 

 likelv. W'liili' Zohntner has recorded the coffee weevil as com])leting 

 its development in coffee beans, the Tephrosia beetle does not even 

 oviposit in them. In unfermented cacao beans (which are also suited 

 to the development of the coffee weevil) the Tephrosia beetle develops 

 rarely, if ever. The author was unable to ascertain whether the coffee 

 weevil attacks the pods of Tephrosia, but the above facts make the 

 biological identity of these two insects very doubtful. The larvae 

 of the Tephrosia beetle were able partially to develop in damp (stored) 

 seed of T. Candida and completely in very damp, mouldy seed of 

 Glycine soja and Vigna caijang, but no development was noticed in 

 the dry seed of these plants. Larvae were noticed in the unripe seed 

 of Sesbania aegyptiaca, but neither eggs nor larvae in the ripe seed of 

 Leucaena glauca. or Tephrosia vogeli. It thus appears that the Tephrosia 

 beetle oviposits only in the ripe seed of plants with Papilionaceous 

 flowers and then only when it is in a damp condition, and that full 

 development occurs only in the seeds of G. soja and F. catjang, these 

 being of sufficient size to permit it. 



Four Hymenopterous parasites of the Tephrosia beetle are of 

 common occurrence. They include the Chalcids, Aximopsis javensis, 

 Gir., and Eupelmus javae, Gir., and two Braconids not yet identified. 

 Brief descriptions and biological notes are given of these parasites, 

 which are of only slight importance in checking the pest. 



There are four ways in which new plantings of T. Candida may 

 become infested : Through the seed, from adjacent vegetable substances, 



(C433) a2 



